*2003
Contest Winners!!!*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1st Place
- The Mermaid's Song - John Schiano
2nd Place - I am Acquainted with the Fall
- Jenifer Zito
1st Place - The Mermaid's Song - John Schiano
Sitting in my weathered chair,
sheltered in the warming sun
on my gray, half-shaded porch,
I look into the tideland.
The sea has quieted today.
A storm has passed,
thoughtless turmoil has become
the soft stir of resignation.
At land's end, creatures babble
over coveted vanities,
their cries borne on unseen currents.
This is my mermaid's song.
It haunts me almost everywhere,
though I don't travel anymore.
I live here now, beside this great indifference
whose boundary is grasping waves.
The grass is gilded with October
and the wind has brought a chill
to my shadowed sleeping porch.
My ancient chair creaks softly
as I pull my sweater closer,
though the sun still brings some warmth.
At times, with care, I walk the shore,
watchful of mindless treachery.
When I least expect it
a rising sea might touch me with its numbing fingers
becoming wretched company.
The shade has reached my chair again.
I will move my old gray friend
back into the sunlight
and its warmth.
Thank you Mark, Michael and all others who thought my poem deserved first
prize. I'm honored and humbled to be awarded this by those whose abilities
and
talents I admire.
2nd Place - I am Acquainted with the Fall - Jenifer Zito
I am one acquainted
with the language
of fall,
I transcribe
as
it shouts
a poem
from each
dogwood berry,
as Cicadas
scream
loud nights.
I am one acquainted
with the music of fall,
I listen
as
it sings
complicated songs
from trees,
each leaf
a colored note
on twig
staffs.
I am one acquainted
with the movement
of fall,
I dance
as
its sacramental wine
reddens
each bush,
earth's gears
click
as wheel of seasons
turns a notch.
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